1987...rabbits,
collusion, rookies and the future...
The
narrative that is the 1987 baseball season cannot be begun without
mentioning juice. As in 'the ball was juiced'. Speculation among
many, both fans and experts, was that the balls used in major leagues
were altered for the 1987 season. This appeared to have been an
effort to create more offense, and to be able to feature many more
home runs on the nightly televised highlight shows.
But no
one has been able to prove that the balls were changed at all. In
fact, several independent tests all concluded the same, that the
baseballs were consistent with those used during the 1986 season.
Whatever
the reason, the 1987 season saw a record 4.458 home runs hit, beating
the previous record by 645. That previous record of 3,813 had been
set in 1986, allegedly using the same ball.
In
fact, the 1987 home run totals for both leagues wouldn't be matched
until the next round of expansion. I guess we'll just call it a
statistical anomaly for the offense, and conversely, the pitching,
which was ultimately responsible for allowing the massive amount of
homers. More so in the American League, where there were 44% more
home runs than in the National League. A good part of this, of
course, was the designated hitter rule, which let the AL teams add a
ninth bat to the lineup. But that discrepancy is more than just one
hitter per team.
The AL
hit 2,364 homers to the NL's 1,824, a difference of 810. Dividing
that variance among the 14 AL teams, it's an average of almost 58
homers per team. Both league leaders hit 49. The pitching in the AL
was not as dominant as in the NL. Statistically, the NL hurlers held
a 3.5% advantage over the Junior Circuit, but the AL hitters bested
the Senior Circuit by 6.7%.
Wade
Boggs, the American League batting champion, hit twenty four homers
that year. It was the first time he reached double digits in his
career, and only did it one other time (1994 with eleven).
Quite
a few players were suspected of 'corking' their bats, which many
believe would add distance to a batted ball. The allegations were
becoming so rampant that the Commissioners office passed a decree
allowing teams to challenge the umpires to confiscate the bat of a
player suspected of 'corking' or tampering with their bats, which was
a violation of league rules.
However,
each team was allowed to only do this one time per game. This led to
a little bit of one-upmanship among managers.
I was
at a Mets-Cubs game that season where Johnson homered, and Cubs
manager Don Zimmer came out and asked the umpire to check his bat.
The next inning, Andre Dawson of the Cubs homered, and Mets skipper
Davey Johnson asked for Dawson's bat to be checked.
Neither
turned up anything out of the ordinary after being x-rayed, and
Johnson would homer again later in the game with a different bat.
With
all that being said, the King of the Hill at the end of the season
was a surprise to everyone, except maybe the die-hard Twins fans.
Minnesota,
led by manager Tom Kelly, who had managed just 23 games in his
career, rallied to win the AL West division. Playing in the Hubert H.
Humphrey Metrodome, the Twins enjoyed a huge home field advantage
throughout the season. Allegations of tampering with air
conditioning, improprieties with the dome itself, and even signal
stealing were all bandied about throughout the season, but none were
ever found to be true.
What
is true is that they won 52 of their 81 games at home, over 64%. On
the road, they were no where near as successful. They won just under
36% of their road games, and only won 9 games on the road after the
All-Star break.
They
were the team with the lowest win count to win a World Series. And
win it they did. Taking advantage of the alternating home field rules
for the Series, the Twins hosted the first two games, and the last
two games of the 7 game series. The St. Louis Cardinals hosted the
middle three.
Predictably,
the favored Cardinals won the three games they hosted, and Minnesota
won all of their home games.
The
Twins, as a team, failed to make either top five lists in team
offense of team pitching rankings. Yet, they found ways to win.
At the
outset of the season, if you were to wager that the Champions would
be a team with just eighty-five wins, you would have easily cleaned
up. In fact, none of the favorite pre-season teams made the playoffs.
The
Mets, coming off of their 108 win season, and their second World
Championship, were loaded for bear. Not only did they already have a
great pitching staff, and a potent offense, but they upgraded both
during the off-season.
Adding
outfielder Kevin McReynolds and rookie pitcher David Cone, the Mets
looked to be on the verge of a dynasty. But that wasn't to be. They
lost ace pitcher Dwight Gooden to substance abuse issues, and he
missed two months. Reliever Roger McDowell missed a month and a half,
and the offense started to show its age.
Youngsters
Darryl Strawberry and Howard Johnson did form a formidable offensive
threat, becoming the first teammates to join the 30 homer 30 stolen
base club in the same season.
In the
American League East, a curious trend had been happening. Beginning
in 1981, the pennant winners were:
1981
Yankees
1982
Brewers
1983
Orioles
1984
Tigers
1985
Blue Jays
1986
Red Sox
Six of
the seven divisional teams had won the crown, so things were
optimistic in Cleveland. So much so that most national magazines had
picked the Indians to win the division, if not the AL Championship.
They were the cover story on the Sports Illustrated baseball preview
issue. They had some great young talent. Cory Snyder, Joe Carter and
Brook Jacoby were the heart of the batting order, and the pitching
was reliant upon Tam Candiotti, Greg Swindell and veterans Phil
Niekro and Steve Carlton. And they failed.
The
Indians would eventually lose 101 games, thirty seven games behind
the Detroit Tigers. In doing so, the Indians are first franchise
to lose 100 games one year, finish above .500 the next year, and then
lose 100 games in that third year.
Collusion,
or the illusion of it, reigned in the off-season prior to the 1987
season. Whether major league owners suddenly gained amazing self
restraint, or whether there was a plan set down by baseball
commissioner Peter Ueberroth, the free-agents of 1986 were met with a
lot of closed doors, and low ball offers.
In
fact, Major League Baseball would lose a lawsuit pertaining to the
Free Agents of 1985, 1986 and 1987, and had to settle with the
affected players. The final judgement was passed in 1990.
Commissioner Fay Vincent maintains that the bitterness felt by the players rank and file, led to the labor strife in 1994-95 which led to the strike that canceled the World Series that year.
Many
players who were expecting to hit the jackpot with their free agency,
would up signing for far less money than they thought, sometimes much
less that the final offer given by their former teams.
At that time, there
were two forms of action that the free agents could take. The first
was to sign for whatever they could. The second was to re-sign with
their previous team. If they chose the latter, they were unable to
sign until May 1st.
Of the
players choosing the latter option, Tim Raines of the Expos had the
biggest immediate impact. Resigning with the Montreal Expos on May
1st, “Rock” was in the lineup on the 2nd
against the Mets. His first major league action since the previous
October. He only went 4 for five, including a homer in the tenth
inning off of Jesse Orosco.
Raines'
former Expos teammate, Andre “The Hawk” Dawson was also a free
agent who was having a difficult time finding work. He had no desire
to return to Montreal, where the artificial surface at Olympic
Stadium was playing havoc with his knees. Dawson set his sight on
Chicago, with their homer friendly conditions, and a grass surface.
The Cubs showed no interest.
Finally,
in a desperation move, Dawson's agent handed the Cubs a contract with
no dollar amount, suggesting that Cubs fill in what they thought was
a fair amount. Cubs General Manager Dallas Green decided on a
$500,000 salary, with incentive bonuses of $150,000 for not being on
the disabled list before the All-Star Game, and an additional $50,000
for making the All-Star Game.
Also,
any narrative of the 1987 would be remiss if it didn't mention the Al
Campanis issue.
To
commemorate the fortieth anniversary of Jackie Robinson's debut, the
ABC program "Nightline” made
arrangements to interview sportswriter Roger Kahn, and former pitcher
Don Newcombe, a teammate of Robinson's. Newcombe was the director of
community relations for the Dodgers. This interview was to be in
ABC's New York studio.
Unfortunately,
Newcombe missed a plane connection, and was unable to get to New York
in time for the show. The Dodgers, who were now scrambling to find a
replacement for Newcombe, contacted Al Campanis, who was in Houston
with the Dodgers for their opener.
Campanis
was also a teammate of Robinson's in Montreal, playing shortstop next
to Jackie, who was at second base.
The
interview was to serve as a memorial to Robinson, and Campanis shared
stories of his experiences along side Jackie in the minor leagues.
Later,
the discussion changed to the subject of blacks in baseball today,
which was where it all began to unravel. Campanis, on live
television, made some comments that were racial slurs, saying that
“...It's just that they (blacks) may not have some of the
necessities to be, let's say, a field manager or perhaps a general
manager.”
Campanis,
after a very public apology was fired from the Dodgers, but the
microscope was on baseball. USA Today, in an unofficial survey, found
that of the 879 administrative positions in baseball, only 17 of
those positions were held by African-Americans, and 13 held by
Hispanics and Asians. While I don't have today's numbers, it is fair
to say that the landscape has changed drastically. Whether that was
because of this scandal, or just baseball getting up to speed with
the times, its fair to say that baseball has made vast improvements
in this area.
But on
to some of the uniqueness that was the 1987 season:
The
season started on a high note in Milwaukee, where the Brewers won
thirteen in a row to start the season. They quickly fell to earth
again, by losing twelve in a row later in the month, becoming the
first team to have a winning streak and a losing streak of twelve or
more games in the same season.
And
speaking of streaks in Milwaukee, Paul Molitor went on a thirty-nine
game hitting streak. It was the longest streak in the major leagues
since Pete Rose went for forty-four games in 1978, and it was the
longest in the American League since DiMaggio's immortal fifty-six in
1941.
But
the streaks didn't end there.
San
Diego Padres rookie catcher, Benito Santiago, established a rookie
record by hitting in thirty-four straight games. It was the only time
that two players had streaks of thirty-four or more in the same
season.
But
wait, there's more!!!
In the
college ranks, Oklahoma State freshman Robin Ventura went on an NCAA
record fifty-eight game hitting streak. Ventura, who was named
Baseball America's Freshman of the Year, finished with a .428
batting average.
But
getting back to Paul Molitor in Milwaukee, he became the first
American Leaguer to steal second, third and home in the same inning
in thirteen years.
Revisiting
San Diego, outfielder Tony Gwynn was part of an historic first inning
against the Giants. In the bottom of the first inning on April 13th,
with the Padres already down 2-0, the first three Padres batters hit
home runs. The only time that the first three hitters homered
consecutively. Marvell Wynne, Gwynn and John Kruk all tagged solo
shots off of Giants starter Roger Mason.
As an early indicator of the upcoming Padres season, they lost the game 13-6.
But
for Gwynn, who led the league in batting with a .370 average, it made
him the third player in National League history to win a batting
title for a last place team. He would do that two more times, a
dubious record. Only Larry Walker of the Colorado Rockies has done it
more than once.
Gwynn
was the first National Leaguer to hit .370 since Stan Musial in 1948.
Moving
to Oakland, Mark McGwire shattered the home run record for rookies by
eleven. His forty-nine beat Al Rosen's American League record of
thirty-seven. It also eclipsed Wally Berger and Frank Robinson, who
co-hold the National League record of thirty-eight.
And
Mr. October, Reggie Jackson, retired at the end of the season. Reggie
was the last active player that played for the Kansas City Athletics.
The
Detroit Tigers, who fought off the Brewers and Toronto Blue Jays for
the American League East crown, made a crucial late season trade that
was beneficial for both teams. For the Tigers, they acquired pitcher
Doyle Alexander from the Atlanta Braves. Alexander paid immediate
dividends for Detroit. In eleven games for the Tigers, the journeyman
right-hander went 9-0, with a minuscule ERA of 1.53. Even though it
was just eleven games in the league, Alexander fared well enough to
gain 4th place in Cy Young balloting.
On the
return side of that trade, the Braves acquired a twenty year old
pitcher, who was pitching for Glens Falls in the AA Eastern League
named John Smoltz.
Smoltz
would move up to AAA Richmond after the trade, and make his big
league debut the next year for Atlanta, on the way to a twenty-one
year, Hall of Fame career.
While
there is no doubt the impact Alexander had on the Tigers pennant run,
there were some other performances of note.
Darrell
Evans became the first forty year old to hit 30 or more homers in a
season, and the third forty year old to hit a Grand Slam.
Pitcher
Jack Morris established a record for wild pitches in a season (which
has since been broken)
Going
back to Atlanta, Phil Niekro retired. He was the last active player
from the Milwaukee Braves.
And
Albert Hall hit for the cycle.
Also
hitting for the cycle were Andre Dawson of the Cubs, Tim Raines of
the Expos and Candy Maldonado of the Giants.
In
Boston, Wade Boggs reached 200 hits and 100 walks for the second of
his four consecutive seasons. He is the only player to have done
this. Only Lou Gehrig has done it more times
Red Sox outfielder/designated
hitter Don Baylor celebrated his thirty-eighth birthday in a unique
way, by being hit by a pitch. Yankee pitcher Rick Rhoden hit Baylor
for what was the 244th time in Baylor's career,
establishing a new record for being hit.
For
the Yankees, it was a strange year for offense by Don Mattingly.
Donnie Ballgame tied the major league record by homering in eight
straight games. He also came into the season without ever hitting a
Grand Slam. He quickly changed that by hitting a record six Grand
Slams in 1987. And then he never hit another in his career.
Second
baseman Juan Bonilla may have established a record for ascension
through the ranks. Beginning in Class A ball, Bonilla worked up to AA
ball, AAA ball and then the major leagues within the span of eleven
days.
And
the Yankees disappointing season also led to Rick Cerone becoming one
of just seven players in major league history to both catch and then
pitch in the same game. But Cerone is the only one to do it twice,
and both times were during the '87 season.
Owner
George Steinbrenner, of the Yankees, gave us my favorite quote from
1987. He told manager Lou Piniella “I just won you the pennant. I
just got you Steve Trout.”
In
Minnesota, en route to their first World Series title, outfielder
Kirby Puckett got six hits in a game...
As did
Kansas City Royals rookie Kevin Seitzer.
As I mentioned earlier, Howard Johnson and Darryl Strawberry become the first teammates to
reach the 30 homer/ 30 stolen base club.
Johnson,
who became the everyday third-baseman for the Mets after Ray Knight
became a free agent, faced accusations of the bat tampering mentioned
above. No evidence was ever found to explain his sudden offensive
dominance.
In
Cincinnati, manager Pete Rose guided the only outfield trio in
history to combine for 100 homers and 100 stolen bases.
In
Baltimore, while losing badly to the Toronto Blue Jays, manager Cal
Ripken, Sr. decided to pull his son, Cal Ripken, Jr. from his
shortstop position and replace him with Ron Washington. That ended
Ripken's streak of 8,243 consecutive innings played
And
switch hitting first baseman Eddie Murray became the first to hit a
home run from each side of the plate on consecutive days.
Speaking
of switch hitters, Pittsburgh Pirates slugger Bobby Bonilla became
the first Pirate, in the one hundred six year history of the
franchise, to homer from each side of the plate in the same game.
In
Philadelphia, slugger Mike Schmidt became the fourteenth member of
the 500 home run club.
For
the Cubs, Lee Smith became the first reliever to save thirty games in
four consecutive seasons.
Andre
Dawson would be voted the league's Most Valuable Player. It would be
the first time that an MVP has come from a last place team. It was
also the fourth time that the MVP has come from a team with a losing
record. Every other instance of that happening has been a Cubs
player. (Hank Sauer in 1952, Ernie Banks in 1958 & 1959 and Dawson)
And then there's
Nolan.
The
Ryan Express, Nolan Ryan won his first ERA title. In doing so, he was
the last of three forty year olds to win the ERA title, and became
the first since 1958 to do it with a losing record.
He
also led the league in strikeouts.
He
struck out Mike Aldrete of the Giants for his 4,500th
strikeout, becoming the first of just three pitcher to reach that
total.
He
joined Rube Waddell and Jim Bunning as the third pitcher to lead both
leagues in strikeouts. He became the oldest pitcher to lead the
league in strikeouts, and then proceeded to extend that record for
the next three seasons.
In
minor league news, the independent Salt Lake Trappers of the Pioneer
League won a record twenty- eight straight games.
Jackson
Mets infielder, and super highly touted prospect, Gregg Jefferies hit
.367 on the season. But that wasn't good enough to lead the Texas
League in hitting. That honor fell to El Paso Diablos outfielder
Lavell Freeman, who hit .395.
And
major league draft history was made in 1987, but no one would know it
yet. The Seattle Mariners used to first pick to draft and sign
outfielder Ken Griffey, Jr. Griffey would go on to become the first
#1 overall draft pick to make the Hall of Fame.
Griffey
was born in Donora, Pennsylvania, which is about twenty miles from
Pittsburgh. With a population of less than 5,000, it's hard to
believe that they are the birthplace of not one, but two Hall of
Famers.
Stan
Musial was also born in this small mill town.
On to
the season performances, beginning with the American League pitchers.
I have added Doyle Alexander's numbers with Detroit, for comparison's
sake. Even though he spent just a short time with the Tigers, his
impact is unmistakable.
Here
we have the top eleven initial ratings:
- PitcherTeamW-LERASV/CGCy VoteDoyle AlexanderTigers9-01.534thRoger ClemensRed Sox20-92.9718cg1stJimmy KeyBlue Jays17-82.762ndBret SaberhagenRoyals18-103.3615cgNo votesFrank ViolaTwins17-102.906thJack MorrisTigers18-113.3813cg9thDave StewartA's20-133.683rdMark LangstonMariners19-133.8414 cg5thFloyd BannisterWhite Sox16-113.58No votesCharlie LeibrandtRoyals16-113.41No votesRick RhodenYankees16-103.86No votes
Now,
comparing them to their team's average performances, we get this
list:
- Doyle AlexanderAboveRoger ClemensAboveDoug JonesIndians6-53.158No votesFrank ViolaAboveMark LangstonAboveCharlie HoughRangers18-133.7913cgNo votesBret SaberhagenAboveDave StewartAboveDave SchmidtOrioles10-53.77No votesFloyd BannisterAboveTeddy HigueraBrewers18-103.85146th
From
this we get this final top ten ranking:
Doyle
Alexander
Roger
Clemens
Frank
Viola
Bret
Saberhagen
Jimmy
Key
Mark
Langston
Dave
Stewart
Jack
Morris
Floyd
Bannister
Charlie
Hough
Over
in the National League, we have another part timer that rates very
highly, so I have included him in the rankings, again for comparison
sake. Pascual Perez of the Expos appeared in only ten games, winning
seven of those.
Here
are the initial rankings:
- Pascual PerezExpos7-02.30No votesTim BurkeExpos7-01.1918svNo votesDwight GoodenMets15-73.215thMike DunnePirates13-63.03No votesDave SmithAstros2-31.6524svNo votesDennis MartinezExpos11-43.30No votesOrel HershiserDodgers16-163.064thMike ScottAstros16-133.237thBob WelchDodgers15-93.228thRick SutcliffeCubs18-103.682ndRick ReuschelPirates/Giants13-93.0912cg3rd
And
then compared to their teams, we get this list, which is very
similar:
- Pascual PerezAboveMike DunneAboveRick SutcliffeAboveDave SmithAboveTim BurkeAboveOrel HershiserAboveDwight GoodenAboveMike ScottAboveZane SmithBraves15-104.09No votesBob WelchAboveRick Reuschelabove
Which
brings our final rankings to:
Pascual
Perez
Mike
Dunne
Tim
Burke
Dwight
Gooden
Dave
Smith
Rick
Sutcliffe
Orel
Hershiser
Mike
Scott
Bob
Welch
Dennis
Martinez
The
National League Cy Young Award was won by Phillies reliever Steve
Bedrosian, who doesn't appear on my list. He did save 40 games, and
had a very respectable ERA of 2.38. He also won 5 games. But when you
look at the numbers above by Tim Burke and Dave Smith, especially
with ERA, you can see how thy ranked higher than he did. When you
look also at their WHIP numbers (Walks+Hits/Innings Pitched), you
find Bedroisian averaged 1.2022 per nine innings, while Smith was at
1.000 and Burke at .8901.
Just
in case you wondered why the Cy Young winner didn't make this cut.
Now to
the offense, which was high powered across both leagues. We'll take a
look at the American League first. As I mentioned earlier, the AL had
a barrage of homers hit in 1987, and you'll see those gaudy number
reflected in these lists.
Herewith
is the initial top ten ranking for American League offense:
- PlayerTeamHRRBIAVGRCGSBMVPPaul MolitorBrewers1675.3531.47455thDwight EvansRed Sox34123.3051.2944thWade BoggsRed Sox2489.3631.1819thGeorge BellBlue Jays47134.3081.2751stDon MattinglyYankees30115.3271.2617thAlan TrammellTigers28105.3431.23212ndWally JoynerAngels34117.2851.23813thWillie RandolphYankees767.3051.3011NoneMark McGwireA's49118.2891.1016thMike GreenwellRed Sox1989.3281.135None
And
then compared to their teams, we get this list:
- Don MattinglyAboveWally JoynerAboveGeorge BrettRoyals2278.2901.106NonePaul MolitorAboveWillie RandolphAboveDanny TartabullRoyals34101.3091.03917thLarry SheetsOrioles3194.3161.011NoneGeorge BellAboveKevin SeitzerRoyals1583.3231.071220thDwight Evansabove
That
makes our final ranking as such:
Paul
Molitor
Dwight
Evans
Don
Mattingly
George
Bell
Wade
Boggs
Wally
Joyner
Willie
Randolph
Alan
Trammell
Mark
McGwire
George
Brett
Now,
on to the National League, our initial top ten is:
- Eric DavisReds37100.2931.42509thJack ClarkCardinals35106.2861.2513rdTim RainesExpos1868.3301.24507thDale MurphyBraves44105.2951.111611thDarryl StrawberryMets39104.2841.12366thKal DanielsReds2664.3341.0326NoneMike SchmidtPhillies35113.2931.13214thTim WallachExpos26123.2981.2294thAndre DawsonCubs49137.2871.16111stTony GwynnPadres754.3701.06568th
And
then compared to their teams, we get:
- Pedro GuerreroDodgers2789.3380.99915thMike SchmidtAboveTony GwynnAboveAndre DawsonAboveTim RainesAboveJuan SamuelPhillies28100.2721.163513thJohn KrukPadres2091.3131.0418NoneDale MurphyAboveJack ClarkAboveBilly HatcherAstros1163.2961.0553None
Our final top ten National League
rankings are then:
Eric Davis
Jack Clark
Tim Raines
Mike Schmidt
Andre Dawson
Tim Wallach
Darryl Strawberry
Kal Daniels
Pedro Guerrero
In the American League,
then. Were I to have a vote, my top five ballot would have been:
Doyle Alexander
(Player and Pitcher of the
Year)
Paul Molitor
Dwight Evans
Don Mattingly
(Actual MVP)
And in the National League,
my vote would have been:
Eric Davis
(Player of the Year)
Jack Clark
Tim Raines
Mike Dunne
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